Being a court reporter 'just like a pianist'

LODI - First the hard part, figuring out how to write - don't call it typing - more than 200 words per minute on a tiny machine. Consistently. Accurately.

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By Kevin Parrish

recordnet.com

By Kevin Parrish

Posted Mar. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Kevin Parrish

Posted Mar. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM

At a glance

Name: Marcus Deposition Reporting, 207 W. Oak St., LodiHistory: Founded in 1993 by Dina Marcus; moved to present location in 2006Employees: Three full time in office, s...

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At a glance

Name: Marcus Deposition Reporting, 207 W. Oak St., Lodi

History: Founded in 1993 by Dina Marcus; moved to present location in 2006

Employees: Three full time in office, six real-time reporters on call

Challenges: Competing against large corporations that have contractual agreements with their own real-time reporters. “I sign no contracts. We are supposed to be unbiased,” said Dina Marcus, founder of Marcus Deposition Reporting.

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LODI - First the hard part, figuring out how to write - don't call it typing - more than 200 words per minute on a tiny machine. Consistently. Accurately.

Then the easy part: create a powerhouse deposition-repording company in a quiet, out-of-the-way corner of downtown Lodi.

Dina Marcus, 47, has managed both - and makes it sound like she's just getting started. Her "satellite" office is in Las Vegas, and she goes coast to coast with her client base. "My plan is always to get bigger," said the ambitious Marcus, mother of two and Lodi's Woman of the Year in 2009.

Her company - Marcus Depositions Reporting - isn't the easiest business to understand.

With a network of six highly skilled, experienced court reporters - all women - scattered from Sacramento to Stockton, Marcus offers a level of legal service somewhere beyond court reporting.

Using the latest technology, her small company handles large, complex legal cases in real time. She also offers online document storage, Wi-Fi capabilities, Web and video streaming.

"I emphasize technology and innovation, experienced and veteran reporters," Marcus said. "There is constantly improving software. What we do is just like a pianist - using both hands, we squish phrases."

Marcus, who runs the business and dispatches her real-time reporters to assignments, also is a practitioner. She has to be on the front lines to keep her own skills sharp.

"I can produce 250 words per minute - we have software that gauges speed - and I've hit 300," she said. The record for American English is 374, according to the California Official Court Reporters Association.

Marcus admitted that it takes concentration to sort out multiple voices speaking at once during contentious depositions on complicated subjects. And, in addition to the quasi-phonetic language of legal repording, she and her crew have had to become specialists in medical and scientific terminology.

Her clients are law firms, insurance companies and courthouses.

What separates her work from that of traditional court reporters is that it often is read, real time, on computer screens by both sides in legal proceedings. "If we have a bad day, everybody sees it," she said. "Real time is very rare and unique. Their work goes up on a screen unedited."

That can be stressful.

Marcus has found her refuge in Acampo, where she and her family live in a ranch-like setting. There are four dogs waiting at home. And then there is the ideal location of the MDR office - at the corner of Oak and Church streets in the heart of downtown.

"I love Lodi," she said. "It's a great town. I love the wine community."

Her husband, Scott, is a financial adviser for Northwest Mutual, and his office is just down the hall from Dina's. They bought the building in 2006. Their children, 13-year-old Madalen and 10-year-old Scott, attend St. Anne's Catholic School, one block away.

Marcus also uses exercise to relieve stress. She begins each day with an early morning home workout.